Depressed. Upset. Anxious. Many people feel this way when they are stressed. Being stressed causes mood swings. People of all ages deal with stress on a daily basis. It can be harder to control younger children when they are stressed. They can lash out and act differently than they normally do. In adults, stress may lead to headaches, stomach aches, chest pains, and trouble sleeping. Also, people may turn to drugs or alcohol as a way of dealing with stress. Some may ask, can stress actually be relieved? The answer is yes. Stress relievers such as eating sugary foods, aromatherapy and physical activities work not only because sugar decreases levels of cortisol and scents can comfort one when stressed, but physical activities can also help one overcome stress.

To start, scientists have proven that eating sugary foods can relieve stress. Stress is caused by the hormone cortisol. Researchers found that sugar decreases the levels of cortisol in a person's body (Bakalar).  Lowering the level of cortisol can save people the energy of stressing over the minor and large obstacles. So, the urge to obtain sugar and other unhealthy foods is actually convenient! To further illustrate, 19 women volunteered for 12 days for an experiment to see if sugar actually does lower cortisol levels. Eight of them had drinks that were sweetened with aspartame. The remaining 11 drank almost the same drink, except they had table sugar instead of aspartame. After the results came in from the experiment, the eight women who had aspartame in their drink had higher cortisol levels than the women who had table sugar (Bakalar). From this experiment, one can see that the women that had the sugar in their drink were less stressed than the women with aspartame. Sugar does in fact release cortisol. According to the scientists who were conducting the experiment, “The post-diet M.R.I. showed increased activity in the areas of the brain controlling fear and stress in the sugar group. The aspartame group showed decreased activity in those areas” (ADAA). From this, one can see that cortisol actually does have an impact on stress levels. Without cortisol being released, stress levels increase, but with cortisol being released, stress levels decrease. It is true that stress can be forgotten. One can be participating in something they enjoy, and forget their worries. However, something people fail to consider is that they will remember their stress eventually. Nothing goes away forever without being solved. People can forget for a day or two, but their stress will always be in the back of their mind. Therefore, they will need to use stress relievers to overcome their worries.

  Furthermore, smells of certain kinds can help to relieve stress. Lavender is a well known scent that can calm people down. In fact, it can help to relieve stress in new mothers, and even babies. It can help the babies to fall asleep, and can encourage useful contact with mother and baby (Scott). Being a new mother can be truly stressful, especially if it is a first baby. If they have lavender in their house, it can help calm them, and their new baby down. Also, lemon oil has qualities that are stress relieving. It has effects that have antidepressant qualities. This makes it strong choice for stress relief (Scott). Stress can cause someone to feel many different emotions. If someone was to have lemon oil in their house, it can relieve their stress. According to Elizabeth Scott who is a stress management expert, “Rosemary is associated with feelings of contentment. It has been shown to have positive affects [effects] on performance and mood. Rosemary has also demonstrated the ability to reduce cortisol levels” (Scott). Because rosemary can impact performance and moods of people, it can affect how people act when they are stressed. Some people claim that stress goes away easily by itself. A person can just continue life as normal and it will go away with time. However, something people failed to consider is that stress occurs everyday. If someone was to continue life as normal, they would just be gaining more stress from everyday activities. Therefore, people would need to use stress relievers to help them manage their everyday stress.

In addition, physical activity such as exercise can help to relieve stress. The American Psychological Association conducted an online study, and about 14% of people exercise to manage their stress (ADAA). Although there are many ways to relieve stress, people use exercise as one of the primary ways to relieve their stress. Even though stress occurs in the brain, it impacts the rest of the body (ADAA).  Because stress affects the whole body, exercise is one way that can help because endorphins aid in pain relief. According to the ADAA, “exercise and other physical activity produce endorphins—chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers—and also improve the ability to sleep, which in turn reduces stress”. When people obtain more sleep, it can help their overall mood for the next day. Exercising can help to acquire more hours of sleep, which helps to relieve stress. Some may say that exercise does not help reduce stress because some exercises cause stress. However, some exercises that are not extreme, can help to reduce stress. Exercise is different for every person. Some people can find more intense exercising to relieve their stress because it takes their mind away from what is stressing them out. Others find less intense exercise more relieving because they do not feel overworked.

As aforementioned, increasing cortisol levels, aromatherapy, and physical activity can help one to overcome stress. Being able to handle stress is important because it can impact a person’s mood, physical health, and how they interact with others. Children need to learn how to cope and relieve stress for later on in life when they are being put into tough situations. Adults need to manage stress so that they can live a more productive life. A society with stress is a society where no one should want to live.